Server-assisted privacy protecting biometric comparison

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11943363-B2
Application number	US-201816769425-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2018
Priority date	Dec 8, 2017
Publication date	Mar 26, 2024
Grant date	Mar 26, 2024

Abstract

Described herein are a system and techniques for enabling biometric authentication without exposing the authorizing entity to sensitive information. In some embodiments, the system receives a biometric template from a user device which is encrypted using a public key associated with the system. The encrypted biometric template is then provided to a second entity along with a biometric identifier. Upon receiving a request to complete a transaction that includes the biometric identifier and a second biometric template, the second entity may encrypt the second biometric template using the same public key associated with the system and perform a comparison between the two encrypted biometric templates. The resulting match result data file is already encrypted and can be provided to the system to determine an extent to which the two biometric templates match.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a first server computer, authentication data for a user from a user device including user identification data that identifies the user;
determining, by the first server computer, a biometric identifier as a random number or string of characters that does not reveal information about the user, to be associated with the authentication data;
transmitting, by the first server computer, the biometric identifier to a second server computer along with a first encrypted biometric template associated with the user;
upon receiving a request for the biometric identifier, transmitting, by the first server computer to the user device, the biometric identifier encrypted with an encryption key corresponding to a decryption key, wherein having by the user device the decryption key enables the user device to decrypt the encrypted biometric identifier, wherein the decrypting the encrypted biometric identifier by the user device causes the second server computer to subsequently receive a second encrypted biometric template and the biometric identifier from the user device, wherein the second server computer generates an encrypted match value data file by comparing the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template based on the biometric identifier;
receiving, by the first server computer, the encrypted match value data file;
decrypting, by the first server computer, the encrypted match value data file to determine a decrypted match value data file; and
determining, from the decrypted match value data file, a match likelihood value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first server computer is an enrollment server computer and the second server computer is a match server computer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second encrypted biometric template is received by the second server computer in relation to a transaction to be completed by the user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the match likelihood value represents a likelihood that the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template are generated from the same user.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the match likelihood value is represented as a numeric value.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising comparing the match likelihood value to an acceptable risk threshold value to determine whether the user is authenticated.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template are encrypted using a public key associated with the first server computer.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the encrypted match value data file is decrypted using a private key associated with the first server computer.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an indication to the second server computer as to whether or not the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template match, wherein the indication is provided based on the match likelihood value.

10. A server computer comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having code embodied thereon, the code being configured to cause the processor to:
receive authentication data for a user from a user device including user identification data that identifies the user;
determine a biometric identifier as a random number or string of characters that does not reveal information about the user, to be associated with the authentication data;
transmit the biometric identifier to a second server computer along with a first encrypted biometric template associated with the user;
upon receiving a request for the biometric identifier, transmit, to the user device, the biometric identifier encrypted with an encryption key corresponding to a decryption key, wherein having by the user device the decryption key enables the user device to decrypt the encrypted biometric identifier, wherein the decrypting the encrypted biometric identifier by the user device causes the second server computer to subsequently receive a second encrypted biometric template and the biometric identifier from the user device, wherein the second server computer generates an encrypted match value data file by comparing the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template based on the biometric identifier;
receive the encrypted match value data file;
decrypt the encrypted match value data file to determine a decrypted match value data file; and
determine, from the decrypted match value data file, a match likelihood value.

11. The server computer of claim 10 , wherein the second server computer performs a comparison of the first encrypted biometric template with the second encrypted biometric template without accessing an unencrypted data within the first encrypted biometric template, and
wherein the unencrypted data is a plaintext.

12. The server computer of claim 10 , wherein the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template are both encrypted using a public key associate with the server computer and using the same encryption technique.

13. The server computer of claim 12 , wherein the same encryption technique comprises a homomorphic encryption technique.

14. The server computer of claim 10 , wherein the encrypted match value data file comprises an indication of a similarity between the first encrypted biometric template and the second encrypted biometric template.

15. The server computer of claim 14 , wherein the decrypted match value data file comprises an indication of a similarity between a first decrypted biometric template and a second decrypted biometric template.

16. The server computer of claim 15 , wherein the match likelihood value is determined based on the similarity.

17. The server computer of claim 10 , wherein the biometric identifier is transmitted to the second server computer via a secure channel.

18. A method comprising:
receiving, at a match server from a service provider computer, a plurality of encrypted biometric templates and a plurality of biometric identifiers, respectively, wherein the plurality of biometric identifiers correspond to a plurality of users, respectively, each of the plurality of biometric identifiers comprising a random number or string of characters that does not reveal information about a corresponding user;
receiving, by the match server from an access device, an encrypted authentication biometric template associated with a transaction and a first biometric identifier corresponding to a first user operating a user device among the plurality of users, wherein the user device obtained the first biometric identifier as an encrypted first biometric identifier encrypted with an encryption key corresponding to a decryption key, wherein having by the user device the decryption key enabled the user device to decrypt the encrypted first biometric identifier, wherein the decrypting the first biometric identifier by the user device caused the match server to receive the encrypted authentication biometric template and the first biometric identifier;
generating, by the match server, a plurality of encrypted match result data files by comparing the encrypted authentication biometric template to each of the plurality of encrypted biometric templates;
identifying, from the plurality of encrypted match result data files, a match between one of the plurality of encrypted match result data files and the encrypted authentication biometric template; and
initi

Assignees

• Visa Int Service Ass

Inventors

• Sheets John F
• Wagner Kim R
• Arora Sunpreet Singh
• Best-Rowden Lacey
• Jiang Chunxi

Classifications

• H04L9/3231 Primary

  Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina (network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861) · CPC title

• H04L9/008

  involving homomorphic encryption · CPC title

• H04L9/0825

  using asymmetric-key encryption or public key infrastructure [PKI], e.g. key signature or public key certificates · CPC title

• H04L9/0894

  Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title